Colorado legislators on May 2 introduced a bill that would direct $600 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to help pay back the state’s $1 billion unemployment insurance trust fund debt to the federal government. The bill would also forgive certain non-fraud overpayments, meaning some workers who received more unemployment insurance payments…
Pennsylvania state Senator Ryan Aument (R) on March 31, 2022, announced his intent to file legislation aiming to require schools to identify sexually explicit content in student curriculum and notify parents when such content is featured in classroom instruction. Aument issued a statement claiming that parents in his district have contacted him over the last…
Reps. Mike Loychik (R) and Jean Schmidt (R) on April 4, 2022, introduced a bill in the Ohio House of Representatives that aims to ban curriculum that promotes divisive or racist concepts in public schools. The bill provides a list of prohibited topics including critical race theory; intersectionality; diversity, equity, and inclusion learning outcomes; and…
The Florida Department of Education rejected 54 K-12 mathematics textbooks for reasons such as the inclusion of what it deemed prohibited instructional topics and the failure to align with state education standards. The rejected textbooks made up 41% of the 132 textbooks submitted to the education department for review. Twenty-eight books were rejected for the…
The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a $3.7 billion bill on April 25 that would raise the balance of the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and repay unemployment insurance debts to the federal government. The move would reduce the unemployment insurance tax burden on employers, which increased March 15 to help refill the fund following…
The Missouri House of Representatives passed House Bill 1860 94-41 on April 14, which would reduce the maximum length of unemployment insurance benefits to eight weeks during times of low unemployment. Missouri’s current program indexes unemployment insurance benefits, meaning it provides shorter periods of benefits during times of low unemployment and longer periods of benefits…
In North Carolina politics, state-level candidates and PACs raised $39.9 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. More than $8.9 million or 22.4 percent of all donations was raised by the 10 individuals at the top of the list. Top 10 North Carolina candidates (1/1/2021 – 12/31/2021) Here are the 10 North Carolina…
In Minnesota politics, state-level candidates and PACs raised $36.9 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. More than $5.2 million or 14.1 percent of all donations was raised by the 10 individuals at the top of the list. Top 10 Minnesota candidates (1/1/2021 – 12/31/21) Here are the 10 Minnesota candidates who have…
In Michigan politics, state-level candidates and PACs raised $89.2 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. More than $25.4 million or 28.4 percent of all donations was raised by the 10 individuals at the top of the list. Top 10 Michigan candidates (1/1/2021 – 12/31/2021) Here are the 10 Michigan candidates who have…